MW Men
1. Mike Moser, F, So., UNLV - I'm assuming there won't be an overabundance of backlash here. A midseason Wooden Award nominee, Moser has it all, having posted a double-double in three of his last four games to put his season total at nine overall. He has flirted with triple-doubles on three occasions this season, including a 16-point, 18-rebound, six-assist performance in the Runnin' Rebels' upset of No. 1 North Carolina in November. Moser is averaging a double-double with 14.0 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, ranking sixth nationally in the latter category, and has also dished out 50 assists from the post.
2. Chase Tapley, G, Jr., San Diego State - Tapley has been one of the league's most consistent performers to date, scoring in double figures in 16 of 18 games, while shooting a shade over 50 percent (110-of-217) from the field and ranking ninth nationally with a .474 (45-of-95) conversion rate from behind the arc. He was all over the floor in Wednesday's win at New Mexico, tallying 12 points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Tapley has topped the 20-point mark six times this season and is tied with Colorado State's Wes Eikmeier for the league lead in scoring (16.7 ppg).
3. Chace Stanback, Sr., G/F, UNLV - Along with Tapley, Stanback is one of the league's top perimeter threats, converting .476 (50-of-105) of his 3-point attempts to rank seventh nationally. He is shooting just over 50 percent (97-of-193) from the field, leading UNLV's high-powered offense with 14.7 points per game. One of his top performances of the season came in the aforementioned take-down of the Tar Heels, when he poured in 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds.
4. Anthony Marshall, G, Jr., UNLV - After a slow start, Marshall (12.3 ppg) has caught fire of late, scoring in double digits in six straight games while shooting 55.4 percent from the field during that span. Without his 26 points at San Diego State, the Rebels would have been run out of the building in Saturday's loss to the Aztecs. In Wednesday's win against TCU, Marshall topped that effort with a career-high 27 points.
5. Drew Gordon, F, Sr., New Mexico - The Naismith Trophy candidate recorded his ninth double-figure scoring effort in 10 games with 15 points, eight rebounds and a career-high five assists in Wednesday's loss to San Diego State. He is averaging a double-double for the second straight year (12.6 ppg, 10.4 rpg), while converting 50 percent (84-of-166) of his field goal attempts.
6. Wes Eikmeier, G, Jr., Colorado State - Three of his six 20-point scoring performances this season have come in the last five games, as he has helped lead the Rams to eight straight wins. As mentioned earlier, his 16.7 scoring average is tied for the MW lead, while his 88.3 (68-of-77) shooting percentage at the free throw line is tops in the Conference.
7. Jamaal Franklin, G, So, San Diego State - When Aztecs coach Steve Fisher speaks of Franklin, he uses the analogy of the little girl with the curl. When he's good, he's very, very good. When he's not, he'll drive you crazy. Franklin has been good more often than not this season, averaging 15.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He has scored in double figures in six straight games, including knocking down the winning shot against UNLV on Saturday with three-tenths of a second left.
8. Luke Martinez, G, Jr., Wyoming - The junior college transfer has quickly established himself as the Cowboys' top offensive threat, averaging 13.4 points per game. He has scored at least 15 points in 14 of 17 games as the Pokes are enjoying their best start (15-3) since the 2002-03 season. Martinez is riding a five-game double-figure scoring streak heading into Saturday's Border War with Colorado State.
9. Xavier Thames, So., G, San Diego State - The graduation of four-year starter D.J. Gay left the Aztecs looking for a new floor general. In stepped Thames, a sophomore transfer from Washington State, who leads the league with a 5.3 assist average despite missing three games with a knee injury. Thames, the first Aztec point guard of Steve Fisher's 13-year tenure to record a 20-point, 10-rebound game, also boasts an 11.7 scoring average.
10. Anthony Drmic, F, Fr., Boise State - One of four Australian imports playing in the Mountain West this season, Drmic entered the week ranked 17th nationally in scoring among freshmen (14.1), third in 3-point field goal percentage (.404) and fourth in 3-point field goals made per game (2.80). He leads all MW freshmen in each of the aforementioned categories, as well as rebounding (4.3).
MW Women
1. Jamie Smith, F, Sr., UNLV - Smith became only the second player in Mountain West basketball history, men's or women's, to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career in Wednesday's win at TCU. Smith currently has 1,035 career rebounds and 1,011 career points.
2. Courtney Clements, G, Jr., San Diego State - Clements, the league's leading scorer, notched her fifth 20-point game of the season in Saturday's overtime win at UNLV. She returned with 19 points in Wednesday's victory over New Mexico as SDSU remained the only unbeaten team in the MW.
3. Chelsea Hopkins, G, Jr., San Diego State - Hopkins, a transfer from Duke who had seven assists and three steals in 21 minutes in Wednesday's win over New Mexico, was coming off a pair of games in which she averaged 14.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 3.0 steals.
4. Kati Isham, G, Sr., Boise State - Isham is the MW's second-leading scorer at 15.7 points per game and leads the league in 3-pointers made per game at 2.6 (36th nationally). She is also 34th nationally in 3-point field-goal percentage (38.8 percent), third-best in the league.
5. Sam Martin, F, So., Colorado State - Martin ranks second in league play with an average of 21.3 points per game and is first in field-goal percentage at 72.2 percent as the Rams have opened Conference action with a 2-1 mark. She is tied for fourth in the MW with an average of 2.0 blocks per game.
Mick McGrane has covered the Mountain West since the league's inception in 1999. He spent 12 years at the San Diego Union-Tribune, where he served as the beat writer for San Diego State football and men's basketball. He currently represents the MW as a member of the Football Writers Association of America All-America Committee and is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. McGrane serves as senior writer to the Mountain West, providing readers with exclusive, in-depth information about the Conference by highlighting its 10 member institutions and contributing feature stories on student-athletes that participate in the league's 18 sponsored sports.
Mark Knudson is a Colorado State journalism school graduate and a 12-year veteran of professional baseball. During his playing career, Mark pitched for three major league teams, including the Colorado Rockies, where he was the first Colorado native to play for the hometown team. He recorded wins over three of the four legendary pitchers who make up the 4,000 strikeout club: Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens. His win over Ryan came for the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day in 1991.
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